Hanging by a Moment

Later that evening, Rebel was a bit nervous as she got ready for the show. Since they’d stopped using their old war paint as much as they had in the past, there wasn’t nearly as much to do as there could’ve been. In fact, she really only had to do minimal makeup and style her hair in a comfortable manner. Other than that and getting her clothes on, she really didn’t have much to do in physical preparation.

However, the compliments all the guys gave her when they saw her helped to boost her confidence, and therefore will to go on stage. They all thought she looked awesome in her ripped jeans, black-and-purple midriff-bearing shirt, and studded boots. It was a style that suited her, and went decently well with their own dark styles.

The only one who didn’t say much was Ash, but she wasn’t offended by his silence in the least. She could tell by how dilated his pupils were that he was choosing to be silent on purpose, knowing that anything that came out of his mouth was likely to be perverted. Considering that, before now, neither had thought of the other in a sexual manner, she knew he didn’t want to offend her or embarrass himself. Granted, she wouldn’t have been offended in the least, given what a gentleman he seemed, but she could understand his train of thought and respected that.

Once they’d left for the stage, her own bass tuned to match his and in hand, Rebel found herself having to compartmentalize a bit. She’d never gone on stage in the past, although she had more than enough talent to manage such a thing, because she never wanted to. She was generally too shy and suffered from too bad of stage fright, but with four of her closest friends at her side, she doubted she’d have any issues. She just hoped that was actually the case once she ran out in the bassist’s place.

“All right, guys,” Andy said into his mic once they took the stage. “I know you’re confused and wondering where Ashley is…”

The crowd all screamed as one, “Yes!”

“Unfortunately, he’s got a really bad headache; he said he’s had it for a couple days now,” he said. “Our friend here, Rebel, was kind enough to fill in for him since his head hurts so bad.”

Rebel waved to the crowd, smiling as he continued.

“Hopefully this’ll be the only show he has to sit out, but we’re gonna see how he’s feeling in the morning before we decide how many more, if any, shows she’s gonna fill in for him on.”

The crowd seemingly pouted and called out their well-wishes for the bassist as one, most saying they hoped he felt better soon.

“Thanks, guys; he’ll be glad to hear that you guys said that later,” Andy said, grinning. “Now, who’s ready to rock the roof off this place tonight?”

Everybody screamed happily, ready to see their favorite band, with the exception of one member, perform live. All of them took their places as they got ready to dive into the opening song, and Rebel couldn’t have been happier. She was just glad that they accepted her, even if it was a one-time-only deal, rather than putting her down just because she wasn’t Ash. Now she just hoped to do the somewhat fallen man justice as she covered him instrumentally and vocally during the show.

* * *

Back on their bus, Ash had just gotten the babies to sleep for the night and gently laid them in the crib they were sharing. Logan gently snuggled up to Legacy, appearing to be aware of her companion’s smaller size, and it made him smile. He gently pulled up the rail to keep them safe, then left the secondary bedroom so they could sleep in peace.

Since the babies were out like lights and he hadn’t even had such thoughts in the past few weeks, he decided to make use of the quiet time he had. Although his head was still a bit sore, it wasn’t throbbing like it had been when he got up that morning, or he likely wouldn’t have had such thoughts. Then again, even with a pounding migraine, seeing Rebel dressed as she was to take his place…well, he figured he’d have to be deaf, dumb, blind, and dead not to appreciate a sight like that.

Just in case they returned from the show before he was done since it’d been about an hour since they’d left for the stage, Ash decided to jump in the shower that was on board. He didn’t exactly want them thinking he’d skipped out on the show just to jack off when he really hadn’t been feeling good, nor did he want them walking in on such a thing. It was downright embarrassing for his friends to walk in on him while he was taking care of business.

After washing his hair, he very gently took himself in hand, knowing he was likely to be more sensitive than normal. He hadn’t had a single sexual thought since finding Legacy, so it’d been a while since he’d gotten off. He was right about his sensitivity being higher than normal, and he fought to stifle a moan as he gently stroked and cupped himself. That effort was made harder since the images behind his closed eyes were of Rebel dressed as she was earlier, but also what his imagination cooked up about how she’d look spread out on the bed they shared without a stitch of clothing on.

“Ohhhh, my Godsmack,” he groaned, gasping as he came a short while later.

“Ash!” he heard Andy yell breathlessly, letting him know they’d returned his busmate safe and sound.

He heard another muffled voice, which sounded like Jinxx, and it sounded like the person was saying they heard the shower running. Knowing he didn’t have much time, Ash quickly washed himself up and climbed out. Without the water running now, he could clearly hear the guys chatting quietly as he dried off, chuckling as he dressed.

“Hey, man,” Jake said when he spotted him. “Feeling any better?”

“Mmm hmm,” he hummed. Even if his head was still pounding like it had been that morning, getting off would’ve helped him feel better.

“Glad to hear it. We’re still gonna wait and see how ya feel tomorrow before we decide if Rebel should fill in for ya again or not,” the guitarist told him.

“Sounds like a plan,” he agreed, yawning.

“Go get some sleep, dude,” CC said, gently patting his shoulder. “You need it.”

“Been sleeping…all day,” Ash answered with a yawn between his sentence fragments.

“True, but you’re still adjusting to being a new father with a very busy schedule,” Rebel told him, letting out a yawn of her own.

“And not quite being adjusted, nor getting enough rest, is what landed you in this spot in the first place,” Jinxx agreed.

“Now go get sleep while you can, you overgrown brat,” Andy chuckled.

“Says he who’s an even bigger overgrown brat than me,” the bassist chuckled.

“I can call you that because I am one,” his friend laughed.

Shaking his head, he chuckled as he headed to the bunk room, which was just one big bedroom for he and Rebel to share. He listened to the woman in question bid the rest of the guys a good night before she locked their bus up for the night. By the time she entered the bedroom so she could head for their tiny bathroom to shower, he was somewhat curled up on his side of the bed, trying to get back to sleep.

Unable to fall asleep by the time she finished showering, Ash was about ready to give up and take some ZzzQuil to help put him to sleep. He felt like he was too wound up to sleep, despite how exhausted he was, and it was pretty annoying. Even after sleeping most of the day, he was still exhausted from the past couple weeks, and now wasn’t the time to be suffering from insomnia. Having an infant who needed him really made him want to get some sleep, that way he could care for her.

On the verge of getting up to find his ZzzQuil, he groaned and slammed his face into his pillow just as his busmate exited the bathroom. He didn’t even notice the concerned look on her face as she threw her dirty clothes in the bag she’d designated for their trips to a laundromat whenever he had a day off, or she had a free moment.

Worried about the hard-working father, Rebel immediately crawled onto the bed and gently ran her hand up and down his back. He seemed to tense for a moment before realizing who it was, which was when he relaxed against the mattress. Just by touching him, she could tell that he was tense and likely having trouble falling asleep, so she moved to gently straddle his ass. Ash gasped, his eyes flying open, as she settled her weight into place, which made her chuckle as she started kneading his shoulders. Apparently getting a back rub was rare for him, especially without having to ask or pay for it.

“Ohhhh,” the bassist groaned, unconsciously nuzzling his pillow as he settled down.

“Feel good?” Rebel asked softly, trying not to wind him up again.

“Mmm hmmm,” he answered, nodding as he turned his head to breathe.

“Good. Lemme know if I need to ease up,” she told him as she moved her thumbs to dig them into the back of his neck.

“My rotator’s cuffs could use a good massage,” he groaned, moaning softly as she continued.

“I can manage that. It’s actually not that hard,” she chuckled, moving to dig her thumbs into the aforementioned joint instead.

Ash let out another moan that, if anyone had been standing on the other side of the door, would’ve made him sound like he was getting laid, not getting a massage.

“Oh, yeah…I don’t even have to ask if that feels better or not,” his busmate chuckled.

“I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I got a massage,” he whimpered, moaning a bit louder when she moved down toward his waistline.

“That explains why you’re so tense,” Rebel said thoughtfully. “And why it’s no wonder you were having trouble getting to sleep.”

Humming as he relaxed into the bed, the bassist merely nodded his agreement.

The young woman straddling his ass continued massaging his back from the base of his skull to his tailbone, being as gentle as she could. In some places, she had to use a bit more pressure than she’d have liked due to the tension in his muscles, but in most, she only had to use a feather-light touch.

Before he even knew it, Ash was all but a pile of mush on the bed that couldn’t fight sleep if he tried. He was so tired and relaxed from the massage that he didn’t even realize he’d popped a boner as he lay there, and not as much because he was attracted to the woman sitting on his ass as because of how relaxed he was. He moved only enough to cross his arms under his head, then promptly fell into a deep sleep, one so deep it was doubtful he’d wake if Legacy started crying in the middle of the night.

Now that her friend was sleeping peacefully, Rebel was gentle about crawling onto her own side of the bed. She didn’t want to wake him as she settled down, considering how bad he’d felt all day. Thankfully, he didn’t even so much as nuzzle his pillow again as she settled down, and that brought a smile to her face. In fact, it made her so happy to see that that it was no more than a few minutes before she fell asleep herself.



The next morning when she woke to tend to the babies, Rebel was a bit surprised to find herself wrapped a warm embrace. Knowing who she shared a bed with due to lack of space more than anything else, she wasn’t too startled to realize he’d rolled over and wrapped himself around her like a monkey. And knowing that morning wood was natural for nearly every guy on the planet, she didn’t let the rigidity pressing against her rear end bother her, either.

It wasn’t long before the bassist loosened his grip enough for her to get up without waking him, and she was willing to wait for that moment. He was sleeping too well, even better than he had the day before, for her to want to wake him up unless one or both of their babies started crying.

Considering that both Logan and Legacy were either still asleep themselves, or merely laying in their crib cuddling, she wasn’t going to wake him just yet. Besides, Ash looked too angelic once she turned so she could see him to want to disturb, babies or no. She’d never seen another man who looked this angelic while asleep, even though he could only be described as a fallen angel or even a demon while he was awake.

Sure that she wasn’t going to wake him, Rebel crawled out of bed as gently as she could. She had to bite her lip to stifle her laughter when she realized that he’d somehow wiggled his pajama pants down around his knees in his sleep, and that he was commando, to boot. With nothing to say and knowing that laughing would wake him up, she merely shook her head as she headed into their little nursery, leaving Ash alone. In fact, she made up her mind that she wasn’t even going to mention it when he woke…unless he brought it up first. There was no need to embarrass the poor man, after all.

“Good morning, girls,” she said softly when she entered the nursery. Logan was sitting up in their crib since the bus was stopped, and she’d gently pulled Legacy over so her little head was laying in her lap.

“Mama!” her daughter cried softly, grinning before looking back down at her lap.

“What’s the matter, angel?” Rebel asked, a bit worried now.

“Baby…” the seven and a-half-month-old said. “No…”

“Is Legacy not feeling good?” she asked.

“Sniffy!” Logan said. For someone as young as she was, she already knew how to talk pretty well.

“She’s sniffling, huh?”

“Yeah! Sniffy!”

“Poor thing.” Rebel gently picked the younger baby up. “Awww, poor thing…you even look like you don’t feel good.”

Legacy merely buried her face in her neck, a typical sign that a child wasn’t feeling well.

“Don’t worry, princess; we’ll make sure you start feeling better soon,” she promised, gently kissing her head.

As the younger baby sniffled again, she used her free arm to heft Logan up out of the crib and gently perch her on her hip. Her own daughter clutched at her, allowing her to readjust her arm so she had a better grip on her while Ash’s clung to her like a little monkey. She chuckled softly as she made her way out to the living area, finding it amusing that, like her father, once she was comfortable, she clung like a little monkey.

Once settled on the couch, Rebel got Legacy settled like a little football so she could nurse before allowing the older infant to straddle her thigh. Her more or less adopted daughter needed the breast milk now more than ever, if she was getting or already sick. It would hopefully help her fight off whatever infection she had.

Halfway through their feeding, she heard a key in the lock of the door and knew that if it wasn’t one of the guys, it was their driver. Unless she was mistaken, she’d seen the driver laying back in his seat, so she figured it was one of the guys. True to form, Jinxx walked up the steps just after she heard the door click closed, and she gave him as warm a smile as she could manage since she was still half asleep. It wasn’t uncommon for the guys to check up on them, so she wasn’t surprised to see him.

“You guys okay?” the multi-instrumentalist asked, a concerned expression on his face as he sat down next to her.

“I think Legacy’s starting to get sick, but otherwise, we’re fine,” Rebel answered.

“Poor thing. I came over to check on you guys because I had a nasty dream last night,” he told her.

“Oh?” she asked. Yes, he was often called The Mystic, but then again, he just had a bit of a mystical air about him; it could be nothing.

“Yeah. Sometimes, when I have dreams, they turn out to be visions of the future,” Jinxx explained. “I had a dream that Legacy got sick, and it ended up turning into pneumonia.”

“Oh, fuck…” Her eyes widened, especially when she saw Ash standing in the bedroom doorway.

“What?” The bassist’s eyes widened as he paled.

“Dear gods, I didn’t realize you were there.” Jinxx turned to face him, an equally shocked look on his face.

“What did you dream about my baby?” Ash asked, terrified as he took her from Rebel once she finished nursing.

“You know that not all of my dreams are visions, but some are,” he said. “I’m not sure if her getting sick and it turning into pneumonia is just a crazy dream, or actually a vision; we’ll have to wait and see.”

“My poor baby,” he murmured, hiding his face against her head as he burped her.

“Logan said she was sniffling, so we might’ve caught whatever it is in time to keep it from turning into pneumonia,” the young woman said, trying to be optimistic.

“She’s definitely got a point, Ash,” Jinxx agreed, nodding. “So long as we keep a good eye on her and take her to the nearest hospital if she seems to be getting worse, I’m pretty sure she’ll be fine.”

“I guess,” the bassist reluctantly agreed.

The multi-instrumentalist offered to stay with them that day so he could help keep an eye on the baby, even though it was their day off. He knew that Rebel would be able to help, but with her own daughter to worry about, she’d be spread a bit thin, so to speak. His friend was still a relatively new father and might not be able to recognize the signs of a young baby’s illness getting worse.

Both agreed that an extra set of eyes and ears would be awesome, smiles plastered to their faces. Even though he had no children of his own that he knew of, his experience from teenage babysitting would help a lot, and they knew it. In fact, she and Ash both considered him a bit of a godsend since he was there when they needed him.

Still, the bassist was worried out of his mind that his friend’s dream was a vision, that his infant daughter was going to end up being really sick. He could only hope and pray that she wouldn’t, but only time would tell if it was just a minor cold or not. Rebel also hoped and prayed that was the case, both because she was so young and because she didn’t know how it’d affect Ash if he lost her. This was one of those times that all she could do was keep her fingers crossed and breath held.

Notes